Chuck Crow/The Plain DealerBraylon Edwards led the NFL in drops this past season.

CLEVELAND -- The New York Giants have inquired about trading for Browns receiver Braylon Edwards, Ken Palmer of The Giant Insider reported.

The report debunks rumors that the Browns had talked about trading Edwards for Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka. Instead, the Giants reportedly offered Cleveland the two draft picks they received from the Saints last year in exchange for tight end Jeremy Shockey: a second and fifth.

The Browns asked for receiver Steve Smith instead and were told no. The Giants then offered either of two other receivers, Domenik Hixon of the University of Akron and Mario Manningham, a native of Warren, Ohio. The Browns declined both.

Talks ended after that, but could heat up around draft time, the report speculated.

The Giants might need a marquee receiver if Plaxico Burress goes to jail, and coach Tom Coughlin told the Newark Star-Ledger at the NFL Combine last month, "it'd be great to have a player, if it's not Plaxico, but with Plaxico's magnitude, on our football team."

Edwards had one of his best games of the season last year against the Giants, catching five passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. But he led the NFL with at least 16 drops last season -- some Browns insiders estimated it was more like 22 -- and finished with 55 catches for 873 yards and three touchdowns.

Edwards' contract is also up after this season and the Browns might not want to pay him the $8 million-to-$10 million a year he'll undoubtedly be seeking.

Edwards has also been vocal about not being liked here because he's from Michigan, and might want a change of scenery. You can bet the bright lights and big city would be attractive to him.

Hixon, who burned the Browns for three TDs in preseason last year, finished last season with 43 catches for 596 yards and two TDs despite starting just seven games. Manningham, whom the Giants coaches feel has tremendous potential, didn't play much his first season.

Smith, the Giants' second-round pick in 2007 out of USC, started only four games, but caught a team-high 57 passes for 574 yards and one TD.

The talks, if true, show that no one on the Browns' roster is untouchable.

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